Steve & Suzanne Suh
Steve
I grew up in Southern California attending church, and after HS moved to Berkeley planning to slowly “fade away” and jump instead into the freedom of college life. God had other plans for me my freshman year, as I was encouraged to check out this church. Here, I experienced the word of God coming alive and addressing me personally, and I found myself coming back again and again. Shortly after, I gave my life to following Jesus—and the rest is history!
Apart from Jesus and ministry, I’m also passionately in love with: Suzanne and our two kids, Steve’s Korean BBQ in Berkeley (no, not because of the name), running (training for my 5th marathon), playing volleyball, and especially spending time in nature hiking and fishing.
I might not catch fish all the time (as my good friends remind me), but I have to remind people that “fishing is not just about catching fish” — deep thought. It’s about the process, the time spent enjoying God’s nature and connecting with those I take along. In my 25+ years of college and youth ministry, I’ve had the opportunity to take hundreds of students to Yosemite and have also taught many how to fish. In the process of doing life together, I have had the privilege to mentor and teach students the word of God. I’ve also had the privilege to see many lives transformed by the gospel—and it never ceases to amaze me to see many now serving as fellow harvest-workers for the gospel here in Berkeley or at another church. I am hooked on fishing for something far more precious than fish.
After serving as covocational ministers for 15+ years, Suzanne and I serve full-time overseeing our college and youth ministries. As I look back at my life, I am in awe of God’s grace and power to save and transform someone like me—to be part of his eternal work. I would have it no other way. [Matt 6:19-21]
Random: Devotions @Strada, Director of Web Development @UC Berkeley (15 yrs), MA/BA Architecture @UC Berkeley, MACA @Talbot School of Theology, AYM/Youth, Go Bears!
Suzanne
My aim after graduating UC Berkeley was to be a successful Asian American female living alone in a flat overlooking the San Francisco bay, sipping a latte while climbing the ranks of a Big Four Firm. But during my senior year, God changed that direction when I met Jesus and gave my life to his cause of ministering to college students, and my life has never been the same. I actually did work for a “big four firm” and a couple other corporations as a tax accountant for some years—but decades later, I am still on the Berkeley campus praying for girls like me to find and follow Jesus and to give their lives for the greatest cause and mission (Matt28).
My husband Steve and I oversee our youth and college ministries. We recently began a youth para-church organization called Area Youth Ministry where college students and alumni mentor high schoolers throughout the nation and equip Christian teens to ground them in their faith. It’s tough being a Christ-follower these days—so our hope is to cheer them on, create a space for youth to reason about truth, connect with like-minded friends, and to become agents of God’s love in their homes, their churches and communities.
We look forward to reach and engage the next generation for Christ. I am thankful God rescued me and allowed me to be involved in his life-saving work and do whatever we can to bring young people to Christ.
We have a son in college who loves to fish, like his dad, and a daughter in high school who loves volleyball, like her dad. While my husband Steve loves the outdoors, I love the indoors. We are very opposite in our tastes, and yet manage to have the same Myers-Briggs (ENFP) and Enneagram (Type 7)!
Random: Devotions @Musical Offering, Bulgogi Sandwich @Espresso Experience, Philz, PEIS @UC Berkeley, Reading Every Night, Love AYM & Youth, Go Bears!